Comments on: Guardian 25,162 / Rufushttp://www.fifteensquared.net/2010/11/08/guardian-25162-rufus/
Never knowingly undersolved.Tue, 03 Mar 2015 22:45:27 +0000hourly1http://wordpress.org/?v=4.1.1By: mumfishhttp://www.fifteensquared.net/2010/11/08/guardian-25162-rufus/#comment-128536
Tue, 09 Nov 2010 20:41:16 +0000http://fifteensquared.net/?p=22740#comment-128536I usually finish a Rufus but struggled with this one, especially after putting “rampant” in by error. Thank you for an excellent blog, Duncan. I’d love to see this style used for setters I really have difficulty with!
]]>By: Dynamichttp://www.fifteensquared.net/2010/11/08/guardian-25162-rufus/#comment-128531
Tue, 09 Nov 2010 19:50:26 +0000http://fifteensquared.net/?p=22740#comment-128531Late to the party, but it seems Minsk, subsequently denoted a soviet Hero City, was the headquarters of the Russian Army’s Western Front in World War 2. I guessed Minsk was somehow synonymous with some specific military build-up, so this seems to tally to some degree. If so, it’s a somewhat loose definition, but could be correct and might be used as a single word in the way that The Somme is used to refer to the Battle of The Somme. I don’t mind admitting I’m somewhat ignorant of such things, but got a loose confirmation via Wikipedia. There’s also the Minsk Offensive – where the Wehrmacht suffered their greatest single defeat of the whole war. I suspect one of these provides the reason this definition as Russian (as opposed to Belorussian) is OK and is thought notable enough that it’s fair.

I found a few pitfalls and needed all the checking letters to get some of these, but enjoyed it. Thanks Rufus and duncanshiell

Refreshing to see a new, clear way of blogging. I hope you will not take Mr Beaver’s comment @11 too much to heart. There are far more less adanced solvers than most people think, as we hear from them less often. We (I include myself) will find your style very helpful.

Nice of Duncan to take such pains over the blog, but I hardly think that level of detail is needed for the majority of the clues. To take a random example, most bloggers would give 5a as simply ESTEEMS = (seem set)*, which would be enough for any readers.
I’m not criticising, just wanted to save you some effort

Well, I started this off this morning, and was pretty stuck almost half-way through when I was called away. I’ve just came back, and the distance must have cleared my mind, as I fairly cruised through the words I had left – mainly in the western half. Last in ‘Autumn’, with a little self-kicking

I smiled when I saw the use of ‘outset’, which I read the same way as Duncan did.

I’m another who had ‘rampant’ to start with at 21d., and also rather hastily entered ‘entourage’ for ‘support’, without checking the anagram fodder – oops!

]]>By: otterhttp://www.fifteensquared.net/2010/11/08/guardian-25162-rufus/#comment-128322
Mon, 08 Nov 2010 14:05:52 +0000http://fifteensquared.net/?p=22740#comment-128322Gosh, what a detailed blog. Thanks, Duncan, and welcome to the Guardian section. I must admit I find the layout a little difficult to read, but no doubt I’ll get used to it.

The usual selection of anagrams, double definitions and one or two others; not my favourite sort of puzzle, but what Rufus does, he does do very well. I too found quite a few of these more tricky than standard Rufus clues, with slightly more cryptic definitions than usual (except for clues in which a cryptic definition is the clue, of course) and more unusual components, eg the acronym REME, which I didn’t know, although it didn’t stop me getting the answer.

I also got RAMPANT for 21d – ‘rant’ seemed perfect for ‘tantrum’, and ‘rampant’ all right for the definition, which scuppered me on 29a. In the end I gave up and used the cheat button, because with Rufus, I find there’s little satisfaction to be gained from struggling with clues for any more than a minute or two: while he does produce elegant surfaces, there are no ‘a-ha!’ or ‘ha-ha!’ moments in these puzzles, so I can’t really be bothered to put that much effort in.

I thought MONASTERY probably the most clever clue, and this is one that defeated me today.

]]>By: Dave Ellisonhttp://www.fifteensquared.net/2010/11/08/guardian-25162-rufus/#comment-128309
Mon, 08 Nov 2010 11:23:49 +0000http://fifteensquared.net/?p=22740#comment-128309Contrary to the comments above, I found this much simpler than usual, taking 13′ for most of it, with another 5′ for the last two: 15d OBSERVER, then 17a MINSK.

I can’t say I liked BUILD-UP.

Thanks for the detailed explanations, duncanshiell; is this the new Guardian house style?